Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Nov 5: A woman who helped her childhood friend to steal Rs 1.3 crore from her home was nabbed by J P Nagar police here within a day of the receipt of complaint.

Shruti from J P Nagar and her friend, Kumar Gowda from 8th main road, T Dasarahalli here, have been arrested.

Shruti's husband, Ramachandra had, on November 2, filed a complaint in J P Nagar police station, stating that lock of his house was broken when his family was away on pilgrimage to Dharmastla on Friday. Police personnel, during investigation, got wind that known people were involved with the theft. They checked the cellphone of Shruti and instantly realized what had happened, officials said.

Kumar and Shruti were childhood friends who were classmates in a school at Yeshwantpura from fifth to tenth standards. They had met after many years in the marriage function of a common friend a few months back. Thereafter, the bond of friendship resurfaced, and both exchanged messages through Whatsapp and SMS, besides talking with each other for hours. Some such messages were romantically inclined, it is said.

Recently Kumar told Shruti that he was facing financial crisis. Shruti, knowing that her husband's friend, Muniraju, had kept cash amounting to Rs 1.3 crore at her home, helped her friend to steal it. She got a duplicate key of the house made and provided it to Kumar. She also conveyed to him over SMS about the fact that the family would be away on pilgrimage. Kumar, who entered the house with the help of duplicate key, stole cash, and at the same time, threw around things to project as if a professional thief had entered the house. He also had broken the lock of the house to show that it was forcefully broken, the police said.

The police are investigating the case further.